A big night for Rick Santorum as he takes a clean sweep of the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses as well as the Missouri primary. The former Pennsylvania senator took all three contests with at least 40 percent of the vote, even beating Mitt Romney in Missouri by 30 points. After many pundits declared his candidacy dead on arrival, Santorum told supporters, his campaign is back.

After Florida, most analysts were saying the GOP race was down to Newt and Mitt, but Rick Santorum pulled off a trifecta last night, a political hat trick winning the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a non-binding primary in Missouri. The unexpected wins casts further doubt on Mitt Romney's nomination, one that was once seen as a sure thing.

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court panel ruled that Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage which passed into law in 2008, was unconstitutional. This is the first time an appellate court has said there is any kind of constitutional right to marry. But this ruling is still being considered "cautious" by legal experts: Proposition 8 supporters can appeal to the entire 9th circuit, or ask the Supreme Court to take up their case.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken issue with the Obama administration's healthcare bill, which requires all university and hospital insurance plans to cover contraception. Archbishop Timothy Dolan wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial that this provision infringes on personal freedoms, "coercing religious ministries and citizens to pay directly for actions that violate their teaching." However, two new recently released polls reveal that American Catholics are more supportive of contraception coverage in employer-provided insurance than non-Catholics.

Sunday's Chrysler Super Bowl ad caused some political reaction, but maybe America needs a pep talk from America's outlaw and tough guy Clint Eastwood. Host John Hockenberry looks at the Eastwood speech in the context of his epic career and America's need for some tough love in these troubled times. Half time in America? Maybe, but we could sure use some encouragement from Clint.

On Superbowl Sunday, Clint Eastwood appeared in a two-minute ad that has been dubbed "Half Time in America." Sponsored by the Chrysler car company, it shows a Detroit that escaped the jaws of defeat to become a model for American recovery. Eastwood's narration goes on to suggest that America is in similarly dire straits: “This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again and when we do the world is gonna hear the roar of our engines. It’s half time America, and our second half is about to begin.”

Opponents of same-sex marriage are planning to appeal a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A three judge panel says California's ban on same-sex marriage is in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Rick Santorum's campaign team is waking up this morning after landing a big hit last night. He won the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses plus the non-binding Missouri primary. You can be sure Santorum will use this latest twist to try and persuade more conservatives to rally around him as the most credible alternative to Mitt Romney. 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower is most commonly remembered as a vocal opponent of communism and a leader who ushered in one of America's most prosperous eras. But a new national memorial in Washington D.C. offers a different image: designed by famed architect Frank Gehry, the proposed monument features Eisenhower as a young, barefoot boy in Abilene, Kansas, gazing on images of his adult accomplishments. This has been met by criticism, mostly from Eisenhower's family.

In order to help close the financial gap between his campaign and its republican contenders, the Obama campaign reversed its long-standing opposition to super PACs. The reversal marks the beginning of a new phase in the presidential race both in terms of strategy and ideology, and is yet another sign of the huge role that these largely unregulated fundraising groups will play in the 2012 election cycle.

Alan Huffman and Michael Rejebian have spent the past 18 years doing "oppo" work: the tedious and delicate task of going through public documents about political candidates. The two have co-authored a new book titled "We're with Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics," which is peppered with anecdotes about wrangling these files from obstructionist clerks — but never reveals the names of any of their clients.